machnamh - maynooth university 1_0.pdfclodagh . when i came to froebel i saw many interesting...
TRANSCRIPT
Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education
MACHNAMH Froebel Week 2017
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Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2 Visit to Hugh Lane Gallery………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 Drumming workshop (PMEd)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Children’s Books, Ireland…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6 Rathwire NS visit to Maynooth University…………………………………………………………………………………7 If you can’t see it, you can’t be it………………………………………………………………………………………………………11 A visit to Blacklion halting-site………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 Team-Teaching Project, Shared Learning Event………………………………………………………………14 Team-Teaching Project – a reflection…………………………………………………………………………………………..16 ASP presentations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17 Visit to IMMA (PMEd)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19 Geo-Caching………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20 Reflections on TeachMeet…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………21 Visit to IMMA (BEd)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….24 GAA course…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………25 Stories of a Yellow Town – Theatre Workshop……………………………………………………………26 Drumming workshop (BEd)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….27 Anti-Bullying Workshop……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………29 Saol Project Exhibition……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..30 Creative Writing Workshop……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..32 Final word from Friedrich Froebel………………………………………………………………………………………………33
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Introduction
Each year, students and staff work collaboratively to plan "Froebel Week", an alternative range of activities to the regular lecture schedule. This week usually occurs around the time of Froebel's birthday, (21st April), and is a celebration of the Froebelian philosophy through varied events. These include practical workshops, outdoor exploration, informal engagement with schools and partner organisations, and presentations from guest speakers. It represents an opportunity to work beyond the confines of the lecture theatre or classroom, thus encouraging students and staff to make use of resources in the local and broader environment. Students benefit from CV and Interview Skills workshops which enrich their career profile, along with learning from fellow practitioners in "TeachMeets". There are been very positive responses to the diverse educational development experiences provided by DICE workshops and presentations. They are also introduced to a broad range of resources, including various national museums and exhibitions, which can be used as a starting point for creative learning in their teaching practice and beyond. We encourage you to read the feedback from students and staff who participated in Froebel Week 2017, and invite you to put forward your own suggestions for "Froebel Week" in the coming years.
Best wishes from Aoife, Eddie and Katherine and members of The Froebel Week Committee.
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Visit to Hugh Lane Gallery
Our trip to the Hugh Lane Gallery was our first experience in which we viewed art in such a setting. Prior to this, we believed that we would interpret the pieces incorrectly and that we weren’t good artists ourselves. Thankfully our opinions have changed. We have learned that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and connections with different art pieces. Everyone views the pieces differently. From this experience, we have realised that the Hugh Lane Art Gallery is an excellent place to take children to further challenge and develop their own interpretations of art. Not only this, but it would give the children an insight into the life of the famous artist Francis Bacon in which his actual workshop is an exhibition at the Gallery.
Rachel Scanlon (BEd Y2)
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Poetry Workshop:
This workshop was a great experience where we all were able to
engage creatively with each other. We began the workshop by
examining some Froebel Mother songs. We learned that these songs
were promoted by Froebel for mothers to sing to their children. One
of the themes of these songs were the use of environment for the
benefit of the children, and as a result, when it came time for us to
begin to think about a poem to write we were instructed to go out in
the open air and take in our surroundings around the campus for some
inspiration.
We were invited to use our wide range of senses to become familiar
with the environment, which included sights, smell, hearing and listening
to nature and fellow students walking around. Some of us lay on the
grass and began to feel the fresh summer grass in our fingers. We
then had to write ten words describing our environment. We then
explored our environment and wrote a poem based on our experience.
Niall McGrath PMEd 1
The writing of the poem was very enjoyable. As it was a group project,
or in some cases paired, it was a different experience collaborating
with other people to compose something. Each group then shared their
poem and we then discussed the different ways this could be used
within a classroom environment, even going as far as discussing the
different ways these poems could be “published” within a classroom.
We were given chalk and black mats on which we were asked to design
to write our poems. The finished products were brilliant and we could
really see the benefits that an activity like this could have on a
classroom to harness and to promote creativity within the child.
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Áine Murray PMEd1.
Drumming Workshop
PMEd Year Two students took part in a drumming workshop during Froebel week. It was a wonderful experience and all involved seemed to enjoy the workshop immensely. Two key concepts were developed during the workshop – rhythm and pulse. These concepts are important for every teacher to distinguish between and they were explored in a meaningful and fun manner. Each student had their own drum and could explore their own creativeness through creating rhythms as a whole group. All elements of the workshop could be implemented in the primary school classroom. The workshop was run by Afro-Eire (African Music, Drumming and Dance) and was supported by DICE.
Katie Kavanagh PMEd2.
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Elaina Ryan, Director of Children’s Books, Ireland
CBI is the national children’s books organisation of Ireland. Through its
many national and international activities and events CBI aims to engage
young people with books, to foster a greater understanding of the
importance of books for young people and to act as a core resource
for those with an interest in books for children in Ireland. CBI’s
Director, Elaina Ryan, gave a presentation about the diverse range of
events, projects and partnerships that Children’s Books Ireland
coordinates around the island, followed by a Q&A. There are lots of
ways that CBI can support teachers and educational settings e.g.
providing teaching and reading resources for primary and secondary
schools, supporting book clubs, holding creative writing courses,
supporting educators’ professional development, helping organise author
and illustrator school visits, and promoting the best in Irish writing for
young people. Elaina shared insights into CBI’s new Strategic Plan 2016-
2019 for promoting reading and literature for young people, CBI’s
National Reading Campaign, the Laureate na nÓg project (the Children’s
Literature Laureate), the touring book clinics complete with Book
Doctors prescribing books to read, the all-island Children’s Book
Festival every October, the CBI Books of the Year Awards, and the
annual CBI conference. Finally, Elaina had brought copies of CBI’s
publications for everyone! Inis (CBI’s magazine) and The Reading Guide
are full of features about children’s literature along with reviews about
the best new Irish and international children’s books to consider using
in placements and in the future.
Dr Patricia Kennon (Lecturer)
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Visit to Maynooth University by Rathwire N.S.
On arrival, the pupils from Rathwire were greeted by fourth year
students from the Froebel Department and were escorted to the
Early Childhood Room. Séamie O’Neill, Head of Education, gave the
students a taster of university life and completed a short game with
the group. He encouraged the children to think of the all the educational
possibilities that the university had to offer. Killian Dunne then completed
a name game in order to get to know the names of the children. The
children were then divided into groups and completed different
activities with the participating students. These activities had a primary
focus on interconnectedness, community and human rights.
Following this, the students of Rathwire were given a quick break while
being given the chance to engage in conversation with the participating
students of Froebel.
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The pupils of Rathwire were then given the chance to showcase their
own talents, by giving a display of poetry they have composed
throughout the year, performing the song ‘Wagon Wheel’ as a group
and displaying their Taekwondo skills for the students of Froebel. The
pupils of Rathwire also presented their new spelling initiative, which was
of great interest to the students of Froebel. This initiative included
incorporating mindfulness in order to aid visualisation with spelling.
The visit concluded with a tour of the campus.
Participating students: Killian Dunne, Donnacha Crosbie, James Kilbride,
Niamh Brown, Siobhán Mc Cluskey, Valerie Smith, Treasa McKiernan,
Catherine McGee and Ashley Maher.
Donnacha Crosbie, BEd4
6th class pupils Rathwire National School
Our reflections on our visit to Maynooth University, Froebel
Department
Froebel was amazing. All the teachers I saw were very polite. The school was very big and I think I might go there. It really inspired me. I love the ghost stories. My favourite story was the one in the theatre. When the man doesn’t like the play, he turns the chair. The school is fantastic. It was way bigger than I expected. The room were the people could relax was a great idea. Thank you, the tour was fantastic.
Anya. Whilst at Froebel, I learned a number of things about the human brain and how sophisticated it is, how bad some people have it and what we can do to help and how to keep my confidence up in front of other
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people. We also learned about what a college or library looks like on the inside, that I can do any course I want to do or be whatever I want to be and how bad homelessness is.I enjoyed college very much.
Kody. I would like to say that Froebel was amazing. It was good to visit the college. The students that were taking us and bringing us on our tour were really nice and I would like to visit Froebel again sometime. I really liked the beanbag room and I would like to thank you for the book and the cup and I really liked the games we played. Thank you very much for letting us into your university.
Luke I'm just sending you this email because I would love to be a teacher and all the other teachers inspired me to be a teacher. I love maths and I always loved school teaching and drawing on white board. It’s really fun. I love looking after children also. Thank you for the invite up to the university it was a pleasure…..the college looks amazing .
Clodagh . When I came to Froebel I saw many interesting things. My favourite place was the priest's graveyard. .I also loved the story about the theatre and the story about the chair when it likes the performance it stays facing the audience but if it dislikes the performance it turns around. I also liked the game that we played with Donnacha and two other girls. I loved the way they told us that communication is important and teamwork. Thank you very much for the day and the book and the cup that you gave us. I am really thinking about coming to study law in the college in the future.
Debbie
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I am writing to you about our recent visit to your university. I loved your school and the student teachers and the students that showed us around were very helpful and understanding. The activities and games you did with us were very educational for all of sixth class. Thank you for the cup and book you gave to us. When entering sixth year of secondary school. I will definitely take your college into consideration.
Michael When we came to visit you, I had a wonderful experience there and I hope all the teachers there did too. .I hope that all the teachers there could come down to our school to visit us sometime and I just want to say a thank you very much for a wonderful experience.
Jack
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“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it!”
Sinéad Burke – teacher and blogger
Sinéad Burke (primary teacher, blogger, PhD candidate) opened Froebel
Week with a talk to PMEd1 and PMEd2 students. She reflected
honestly about the challenges she faces in education and everyday life
as a little person. She led the group in a conversation about diversity
and representation in initial teacher education, reminding students that
‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it’. She shared the structure and
content of her PhD research which focuses on the voice of the child,
and the significance of providing methodologies and platforms within
the primary classroom for these voices to be heard.
Aoife Titley (Lecturer)
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Our visit to a Blacklion halting site
As third year students, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to
visit a local halting site during Froebel week. This experience developed
from a conversation, which had initially been generated in our Sociology
lectures with Anne O’ Donnell, a member of the Traveller community. It
is an element of Froebel week which will endure in the minds of
everyone as a positive experience. The overwhelming hospitality that
was demonstrated, instantly set the scene for an open, honest
discussion on Traveller culture, experiences of education and general
opinions held. The wholehearted approach taken by Anne, her family and
other members of the community was highlighted through a display,
illustrating the evolving traditions and the significance they hold. The
commitment to the visit and to the relationship that has been established
was further amplified through the honest words spoken. I feel this is
the aspect which captured and sustained everyone’s attention. It
created a sincere, authentic experience that challenged some
preconceived ideas and compelled each individual to reflect on their
own biases. This experience served as the culmination of three year’s
work between Sociology, DICE and the Think Globally Teach Locally
elective. Aoife Doyle (BEd Y3)
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Team Teaching Project Shared Learning Event
Dr Bernadette Wrynn (Lecturer) and Ciara O’ Donnell (PDST)
The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and
Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education are
delighted to host today’s team teaching event. This marks the end of a
collaborative team teaching project involving student teachers on school
placement and their partnered co-operating teacher in fifteen schools.
In advance of the school placement, a full training programme exploring
the various models of team teaching in the context of literacy and
numeracy was provided.
The training was a fusion of theory and practice harnessing the blend
of career stages, practice and experience. This unique project,
therefore, spans both ends of the Continuum of Teacher Education,
where individuals from initial teacher education (third level students) and
continuous teacher education (co-operating teachers from the
placement school) work as partners in a shared learning environment,
where inquiry, experimentation and reflection is central, and where
sharing of practice in encouraged.
It is where both student and co-operating teacher view team teaching
as a vehicle for improving teaching and learning rather than simply a
duplication of professional responsibility for a class. It is about sharing
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a strong desire to ignite students’ thirst for knowledge and to do that
together where the sum of the individual strengths is greater than its
parts.
As well as facilitating the development of team teaching skills among
individual student teachers and their co-operating teachers, it is intended
that there will be a multiplier effect, in that the learning from the
experience is disseminated to others not directly included in the project.
The PDST and Frobel Department also want to draw from the learning
of this work to inform future such projects and to continue
constructing our knowledge and understanding of team teaching. It has
been a most valuable collaboration involving the dedication and time of
many people.
I would like to acknowledge Catherine Treacy and Orla McKiernan, PDST
team leaders for Literacy and Numeracy respectively, and Dr.
Bernadette Wrynn from Froebel Department. All three worked
tirelessly to co-ordinate and manage all aspects of this project from
its infancy to completion in the spirit of true partnership. Sincere
thanks to our PDST advisors Yvonne Slevin and Aoife Brennan who
delivered the training modules in team teaching for literacy and
numeracy.
Finally, a heartfelt thanks to the school, teachers and students for
their participation and willingness to engage in this project and for
bringing it to life in classrooms. Wishing you all a wonderful morning of
learning and celebration
Ciara O’Donnell
National Director
Professional Development Service for Teachers
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Team Teaching Project
As I was not involved with the team teaching as part of the most recent
school placement I feel that this team teaching event was very insightful.
Having completed a paired placement in October I felt that two or more
teachers working together had some positive effects on the children’s
learning experiences, but after this event I feel that the potential team
teaching has in the classroom is far greater than I originally thought. It
was very beneficial to hear about the class teachers’ positive
experiences with team teaching and also the reflections and thoughts
from the children in their classes. I hope that later in my career as a
primary school teacher I will get the opportunity to include team
teaching in my classroom.
DJ Hanley (BEd Y2)
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ASP Presentations
On Thursday 4th May the second year B.Eds had our Academic Service
Placement (ASP) presentation session in which we presented our
posters about our ASP experiences, listening to some of our
classmates presentations and welcoming some guest speakers to share
their personal experiences. When we were told there was going to be
guest speakers at the presentation, I assumed it would be a
spokesperson or two from local organisations but it was a really great
surprise to see a group of women from the SAOL project in Amiens
Street come in to talk to us. One woman, Jenny, read out a poem called
‘Seven Visits Home’, written by one of her classmates. It told the story
of a recovering addict and how her addiction affected her family. The
poem almost brought tears to my eyes and it gave me insight into the
life on a recovered addict, as most of the women are. After this, we
had a chance to get into mixed groups of women from SAOL and
Froebel students. We had lots of time to talk and compare our
educational settings. We then were asked to share two words that
came to mine when we thought of what education has given us.
Interestingly, the most common words were equality, pride and
confidence. We then were talked through the Object Poverty exhibition
by the organiser, Ray, and some of the women. It was an amazing,
humbling experience and definitely the highlight of Froebel Week for
me. Rachel Bradshaw (BEd Y2)
Prof Maurice Devlin and Ray Hegarty with Séamie O’ Néill and Therese Hegarty (Froebel Dept)
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“Development in Partnership” – a visitor’s impression of the
work of Trócaire in Sierra Leone
Personally, I found the talk to be very eye-opening, as I will be honest - I did not have a whole lot of prior knowledge about Sierra Leone before attending on Tuesday. However, now I feel that I am much more aware of the situation at hand there. To be honest, all of the pictures were really informative about the country and just, I suppose, the outlook and attitudes of the people that were really trying their utmost to make a change and to create a better country for themselves and their future generations were incredibly inspirational. I remember thinking to myself during the presentation about how incredibly forward-thinking and progressive they were about the problems in their country and wondering how on earth those problems could possibly still be happening. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the talk and it has really made me interested in looking more into this country and just other developing countries mostly to see are they all so forward thinking in how they are really trying to change their country and to figure out what is stopping them and why are they still classed as "developing" when in my opinion the work they are doing is far more developed and progressive than most "first world countries". There is also a possibility in the future (I am uncertain as I don't quite know what my future holds at this moment), that I would like to find some way to support these countries. The talk has really motivated me to do so.
James Kilbride (B Ed 4)
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Visit to IMMA
On Thursday of Froebel Week, the PMEd year two group visited IMMA
with Katherine. At first, we received a talk from Mark who organises
tours and visits to IMMA for groups of students under twelve. This
was really beneficial as he gave us examples of why we would bring a
class here and how we could visit an exhibition and use the art pieces
as stimuli for particular aspects of our art lessons in the classroom.
We visited the Lucian Freud project which comprises of fifty art
pieces and learnt about his portrayal of the human form which focused
on self-portraiture, portraiture, animal and nature works. After looking
around the exhibition we visited the gardens and the sculptures on the
ground. It was a very enjoyable visit to IMMA and the information we
received will help us in the future to think outside of the box when
planning art lessons and tours for primary school pupils.
Shónagh Lynch (P MEd 2)
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Geocaching
During Froebel Week, PMED1 had the opportunity to partake in some
geocaching and outdoor activities. It was something different that none
of us had ever had the opportunity to do before. We were given GPS
devices and co-ordinates for our phones as well as a coded clue, which
we had to decipher. Our first task was to find a geocache - which
was hidden in a tree next to the graveyard on South Campus. We
managed to decipher the clue and find the coordinates, yet it wasn't
until Tony came to the rescue that we could locate the elusive
geocache! We were on a mission to find our second geocache without
any help, which was no easy feat considering we only had three legs
between us as my partner was on crutches! Nevertheless, we managed
the second task with relative ease. We finished the session with some
fun co-operative games. Overall it was a great experience and definitely
something to consider trying out in the future.
Róisín Byrne (P MEd 1)
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Froebel TeachMeet
Froebel TeachMeet was a huge success and thoroughly enjoyed by
those who attended. The speakers were a mix of students, teachers,
and lecturers which provided us with a variety of ideas in different
fields of education.
It was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and to share ideas.
It was especially beneficial for the 4th years to acquire some tips and
ideas from those more experienced, before going out into the “real
world.” It was also very helpful and useful for other year groups and
even those who are already teachers, as they could gain new, creative
ideas to use in their classrooms.
I felt that the interactive element of the TeachMeet worked really well.
The variety of fun activities between speakers and during the interval,
kept everyone interested and engaged throughout the evening.
Overall, the Teach-Meet was a valuable experience, full of entertainment
and learning. It was well worth the hard work and I would definitely be
interested in organising and attending one again.
Aisling Timmons (B Ed 4)
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Thoughts on Froebel TeachMeet
Thanks to all of you who took volunteered your time and your talent
to share with others at TeachMeet Froebel last week.
Whether you did a Nano, a Micro or a Soap Box presentation, you've
looked the camel straight in the eye, and bravely moved the rest of us
on one place along the gameboard!
Those of you 4th year students off into the Big World, good luck, and
bring the spirit of TeachMeet with you. Those of you in 1st, 2nd or 4rd
year still, we'll see you in action next year again, and your challenge is
to each persuade a classmate to present.
'Old timers' and NQTs, thanks for mucking in and sharing the wisdom of
your experience (though it may have been the youngsters who dished
the real wisdom).
A special mention has to go this year's chief bottle-washer Laura
O'Donoghue. Laura, you have that 'je ne sais quoi' in spades - use it don't
lose it, and when you're famous we can all say we knew you once.
Séamie, thanks for hosting this event once more; TeachMeet Froebel
has been sort of special since Bianca kick-started it in April 2015, not
long before she died. Her spirit was definitely in the room last week.
Hopefully we will all meet again during Froebel Week 2018 for another
cracking TeachMeet.
Mags Amond (Presenter)
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BEd Y3 visit to IMMA
The visit to IMMA was, undoubtedly, something to challenge comfort
zones and initial perceptions of modern art. The Lucian Freud collection
is currently on show.
Like it or not, Freud’s paintings challenge your thoughts and opinions
and offer a sensory experience walking through the walls of IMMA.
We, as viewers, feel liberated to make of the work what we will and
is certainly an ideal place for school children of all ages to visit. Children
can pick up on the subtleties that Freud’s work affords or see it for,
literally, what it is. The IMMA engagement team are also extremely
welcoming and the safe, positive environment would make for a great
school outing
Seán Stafford (B Ed 3)
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GAA Foundation Course
On Wednesday, as part of Froebel Week students from fourth year
B.Ed and PME2 took part in the GAA Foundation course. As part of
this we all completed different online modules before Wednesday to
enable us to complete the Foundation Course in one day. We started at
9 a.m. where we had a workshop for two hours with Noel Delaney on
the Code of Behaviour, which focussed on Child Protection. After a
quick tea break we were back in at 11.15 a.m. and headed outside to the
astro turf with Tadhg Fenin for a Physical Literacy workshop which
lasted an hour and a half. This was great fun and got us running around
and active. We reconvened at 1.45 p.m. and the focus of this workshop
was Football Skill Development and Family of Games with David Murphy
and Johnny Doyle. The two coaches brought a brilliant enthusiasm to
the workshop and it was very enjoyable working on some the different
skills such as hook kick, hand pass, catching, blocking etc. Following on
from this we had our final workshop of the day with Paul Divilly and
Chris Conroy, the focus for this workshop being Hurling Skill
Development and Family of Games. This introduced a few students to
hurling for the first time and it was a fun and enjoyable workshop.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and got lots of new ideas to use
in our future careers as teachers and coaches.
Ciarán Breen (B Ed 4)
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Stories of a Yellow Town – Theatre Workshop
(Event for Y3/Y4/PMED1)
I felt that, while the workshop had limited practical elements, this suited
the particular workshop as the presenter had a wealth of information
to share with us. I think that a number of practical activities could have
taken away from the quality of the workshop. Overall, the workshop
was excellent. The presenter blended his own drama demonstrations
with advice on teaching drama, his experience of teaching drama to a
number of different groups (including primary school children) and
reasons to support the approaches he takes when teaching drama. As
well as this, he engaged and challenged us with questions such as, 'How
do you bring a creative approach to the classroom?' I got the
impression that he was as very open to discuss his ideas with us, rather
than simply lecture us.
Lauren O’ Callaghan (BEd Y4)
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Drumming Workshop (Event for Y3)
I found the drumming workshop to be a great experience! I thought it
was a great whole class activity. At the beginning we were clapping out
various rhythms, using only body percussion. We then began breaking
into groups where we were standing and performed the clapping to
make a rhythm round and the combined sound was very effective. It
was a good introduction to performing with the drums and also showed
how much percussion could be explored with no equipment. We then
moved onto performing with the drums. We were using African drums.
Again, we began with simple rhythms and then began combining them,
performing rhythm rounds. This created a huge amount of energy in
the room and was really enjoyable. It was necessary to concentrate
on your own rhythm and so it was quite a mindful activity while also
very being very active. Overall it was a very energetic workshop.
Niamh O’ Rourke (BEd Y3)
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Anti- Bullying work-shop
The anti-bullying workshop provided a variety of ‘go to’ strategies
that can tackle bullying by providing a perspective of
understanding. This understanding was brought about by making
connections through children’s literature. One book that was used
was the well-acclaimed picture book called ‘Red’ by Jan De Kinder.
This book helps to teachers and children alike to see bullying from
two perspectives and provide us with knowledge to make an
educated choice when we understand how people may feel.
Furthermore, the use of poetry structures and brainstorming
strategies to combat bullying in the classroom was enlightening.
Colin Smyth (PMEd 2)
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SAOL Project Exhibition
SAOL is an integrated programme of education, rehabilitation, advocacy
and childcare. The SAOL Project’s on-going commitment to the women,
children and community members of the North Inner City continues to
develop, responding to the changing needs of the women who
participate in our project with creativity and commitment. SAOL has
worked over the last 22 years to promote the needs of female drug
users and their children. We have tried to highlight the many extra
difficulties that face women who use drugs including the stigma
attached to being a mother who uses drugs, fears about the impact
drug use might be having on their children but also fears about losing
children because of their drug use. While all of these are reasons that
can attract women to treatment, they are also reasons why women
tend to stay away from sources of help. At best, there is a ratio of
2:1 men to women in drug treatment; throughout Europe that figure
lengthens to 3:1. Women who use drugs have different needs to men
who use drugs. A strong and confident voice is required to shout out
that female drug users have needs that are not always recognised or
met by the services they attend. SAOL is dedicated to improving the
services for female drug users in general and particularly for our
area - we call on all service providers to examine their response to
women and adjust their practice appropriately.
An exhibition from SAOL, on the theme of Object Poverty was held
during Froebel Week. It raised awareness and interest in the Froebel
Department as the students explored the impact on themselves at both
a personal and professional level.
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Creative Writing workshop
One of the most popular events of Froebel Week is the "Creative
Writing Workshop" which Alison Farrell and Sharon Tighe-Mooney have
kindly facilitated each year since our move to Maynooth University.
Students get an opportunity to take part in cooperative writing
activities based on the "Fighting Words" model. Apart from the
development of language and literacy skills which are an integral aspect
of the workshop, students have incorporated this playful and fun
experience into their planning and practice on School
Placements. Katherine Lally (Lecturer)
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A final word from Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852)…….
Children are like tiny flowers: They are varied and need care,
but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the
community of peers.
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